Taormina

[yarramar]

Our Insignia cruise docks at Taormina in September. Can anyone tell me where it docks in relation to the town and provide some suggestions as to how to spend our day: 8am to 4pm on a Sunday

[JimandStan]

The ship does not dock in Taormina, you will have to tender in.

 

The tenders will deposit you in a small port area, technically called Giardini Naxos, which seemed to me to be about 5 streets wide.

 

From there, it is a short walk over to the funicular

which will take you up to the top of the mountain upon which the town of Taormina is perched.

 

Alternatively, about half of your fellow passengers will opt to take a bus ride up to town, and then take the funicular down to the tenders at the end of their day.

 

There are also some filthy, smelly, flea bitten Donkies, which carry people up and down that mountainside, but we gave that a wide berth.

 

 

Otherwise, the town of Taormina is exceedingly charming, easy to navigate (provided that you are ok with steps), and hugely tourist friendly.

Roman Ruins dot the streets, which are otherwise lined with smart boutiques, and tourist shopping of all kinds.

 

Outdoor restaurants and bars abound, and cascades of flowering shrubs make every square inch a photo oportunity.

There are also spectacular public gardens.

 

Hope that this helped, have a fantastic trip!

[TERRIER1]

We were there on a Sunday and tendered into Giardino Naxos. We never found the furnicular and there were next to no buses running to Taormina on Sunday. Other folks took cabs. Where is the furnicular and how did you get there since we walked all the way to the end of town and never saw a bus or the furnicular? Thanks.

[cbb]

when we were there last year, the seas prevented us from tendering, instead we docked at Messina. People took the O optional tour bus ride or took taxis to T. The place is gorgeous and of course the Roman amphitheater is unbelievable. We were unable to see Etna because of clouds but standing at the top of the amphitheater and looking across the harbor---lovely. (Etna should have been seen there, too!) Beautiful pottery at great prices & yummy pizza--what's not to love!

[seafare]

when we were there last year, the seas prevented us from tendering, instead we docked at Messina. People took the O optional tour bus ride or took taxis to T. The place is gorgeous and of course the Roman amphitheater is unbelievable. We were unable to see Etna because of clouds but standing at the top of the amphitheater and looking across the harbor---lovely. (Etna should have been seen there, too!) Beautiful pottery at great prices & yummy pizza--what's not to love!

 

 

Don't forget the Gelato (sp).

 

Jill

[cbb]

Who could forget gelato? My hips are still carrying remnants of gelato....I had limoncello (i think, perhaps it was just lemon there.) Forced me to walk the track 2 miles daily just to "afford" the gelato. So many gelato opportunities, so little time...sigh.

[lunarella]

We were in Taormina in October and did not see any funicular or donkeys, either. We walked right along the waterfront to the Travel Office (a pretty walk on a nice weather day), asked where to catch the bus, and then took that up to the town of Taormina. We took a taxi back to the port to save the bus wait time at the end of the day. It is easy to navigate and a wonderful cruise stop. Enjoy!

[JimandStan]

http://www.gotaormina.com/en/taormina/cable_car.html

[yarramar]

Just google mapsed the location. The cable car is near Isola Bella beach and the ship tenders you 5 kilometres from there or 1 hour walk. By the look of the satellite image it would be a beautiful walk and all level. I may give it a try if my DW is up to it

[yarramar]

I have been "walking" around Taormina using Google maps street view but have not come across the cable car. Does anyone have a reference so I will be able to find it when actually there

[JimandStan]

The cable car is near Isola Bella beach and the ship tenders you 5 kilometres from there or 1 hour walk. By the look of the satellite image it would be a beautiful walk and all level.

 

Yarramar-

 

I see what you are saying on the Google Map.

 

That said, Oceania must use more than one tender dock, because the walk from the Funicular to the tender took us less than ten minutes last June.

 

Perhaps they choose docking locations based on the roughness of the ocean??

On that day I was there, it was VERY rough. It took the tender that I was on SIX passes to load passengers at the ship.

On the next to last pass, the railing of the tender dock crashed through the fiberglass tender wall......three feet from my face.

 

Yet I chose to continue and go ashore anyway.......AND IT WAS SO WORTH IT! :D

[TERRIER1]

Now I know why we never saw the funicular. We tendered in Giardino Naxos all the way over on the other side. The cable car is in Taormina. Thanks for the clarification.

[lunarella]

Ahhhh....we also tendered in Giardino Naxos. I hadn't realized that there were two possibilities for tendering into Taormina. Thanks for the clarification. We do plan to return to Sicily someday! :)

[mzharmuny]

We will be docking in Messina. Are there taxis nearby to get to Taormina? we are looking to do 'on our own' type excursion but I don't see any recent information on transportation to this town?

 

thanks for your help!

[ClaudiaF]

The easiest way is to just grab a cab ..it will drop you at the "entrance' to the town ( you can give him a time to pick you up).. if you wqant..although there are so many cabs in town it is not a problem..

[Joyous California]

Our Insignia cruise docks at Taormina in September. Can anyone tell me where it docks in relation to the town and provide some suggestions as to how to spend our day: 8am to 4pm on a Sunday

 

The ship probably docks in Messina...and Taormina is about 1/2hour away up the mountain...We've been there three times....last time we were there we shared a taxi with another couple and just walked around the town. It's scenic...you can shop, have lunch, or just sit and look at the people. Many photo ops..The ruins of the "greek" theatre" are worthwhile to see and you don't need a guide...just pay a small fee for entrance.

 

The ship may have a shuttle bus .....for a minimal charge. Can't remember if they did or not last time.

[shemp2000]

Our Insignia cruise docks at Taormina in September. Can anyone tell me where it docks in relation to the town and provide some suggestions as to how to spend our day: 8am to 4pm on a Sunday

 

Tendered in and took a taxi to the town (4 people, 25 euro). Once there we hiked up to some ruins that were closed but had a great view overlooking the town. Went to the Greek Ampheteater (~10 Euro pp with audio guide). Next we searched for and found some Cannoli. Took the funicular down to the beach. At the beach we hired a small boat to take us on a tour of the bay area (~50 Euro for a 30-60 minute tour that included lemoncello). Finally we made a mistake of walking from the beach back to the ship's tender area. While the walk was nice, and it look shorter than it was, it was very hot and took at least 1 hour to do.